Free Republic

The staff, the ad spending, the campaigning -- Michael Bloomberg was going to do all of this to defeat President Donald Trump already. Doing it as a 'candidate' excempts him from limits on PACs and political donations. There is very good reason to believe Michael Bloomberg isn’t actually running for president.Of course, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. For one, he declared he is. He’s also hired more than 1,000 staff and is still expanding, offering salaries far above campaign averages. This week, he became the first of the declared candidates to have campaigned in all 14 states...

George Soros is 89 years old, but by gosh, before he dies, he’s going to see to the internal destruction of America. At least that’s how it seems. How else can we listen to his words in Davos, Switzerland, track his funding of American political races and pay attention to what he says about President Donald Trump, capitalism, and the leftist causes he backs and the leftist Open Society Foundations he runs, and come to any other conclusion? In the last few years, Soros has taken to trying to take over local law enforcement agencies by pumping massive amounts of...

Remember when the Democrats thought “money politics” was a bad thing? That moral certainty started to crumble when Hillary Clinton outspent Donald Trump by a factor of at least 2, and still went down to defeat. And while vilifying Wall Street makes for good progressive virtue-signaling, the Dems are now the party of plutocrats, buying with welfare and money transfers the support of an underclass kept angry and dependent by progressive policies that hamper job-creation and reward idleness and dependency. President Trump’s tax and regulations cuts have boosted job growth and income at the lower end of the market, imperiling...

On August 22, a convoy of blacked-out Suburbans, flanked by police escorts, sped west along Sunset Boulevard and then headed north into the Hollywood Hills. The motorcade finally pulled up to the gated entrance of Beverly Park, an exclusive enclave that is home to an array of famous actors, rockers, and other Los Angeles A-listers. Hillary Clinton's destination that evening was the palatial compound of Univision chairman Haim Saban, a billionaire most famous for creating the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers..... .... No single political patron has done more for the Clintons over the span of their careers.... ....People who know...

We now have a preview of the way Michael Bloomberg plans to buy the Democrats' nomination and the presidency.  A big part of his massive spending program will be focused on trashing President Donald Trump while touting himself as a self-made man.  The budget for this ad alone is at a saturation level in targeted markets. Advertising Analytics confirmed with The Hill on Saturday that Bloomberg's multimillion-dollar ad campaign would air in 98 local markets and on some national cable channels in the most expensive ad purchase from any candidate in one week of political advertising. The former mayor's ad filmed by Kantar/CMAG is expected...

Just wanted to throw this out there. Over the past several years, we have heard from various billionaires that yes, they should pay more in taxes. Now we have socialist idiots out there - Elizabeth Warren and others - that have now called their bluff. They are saying, okay we'll just take 100 million from you and now, all of a sudden, they are balking at the idea of their wealth being stripped from them. We always knew it was bull but now the hypocrisy is out in the open.

"It's time for a wealth tax in America" Elizabeth Warren Stands Up to Billionaires

"Does anyone deserve to have a billion dollars?" That's one of the questions The New York Times recently put to the avalanche of candidates coming for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination in 2020. A few of them, and not necessarily the most left-wing ones, offered a squishily-philosophic no. "I'm not sure anybody cosmically or morally deserves to have a billion dollars," as South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg put it. Others were more positive: John Hickenlooper, the former governor of Colorado, thinks the aspiration to make a billion dollars "drives a lot of our economy." One thing just about everyone agreed...

Bill Gates said Wednesday that he “made a mistake” when he decided to meet with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein while seeking money for his global health campaign. Gates made the mea culpa while speaking to The New York Times Dealbook Conference — saying that by sitting down with Epstein he helped legitimize the convicted sexual predator. “I made a mistake in judgment that I thought that those discussions would lead, literally, to billions of dollars going to global health. It turned out that was a bad judgment,” said 64-year-old Gates. “And I gave him some benefit by the association. So I made...

Liberal media outlets have promoted liberal billionaire 2020 candidate Tom Steyer as a “patrician populist” who has decried “‘the corporate stranglehold on democracy.’” But Steyer is also currently the top federal spender to outside groups this cycle. According to data from Open Secrets, Steyer is the top federal contributor to outside groups. In total, he gave $21,063,557 to liberal causes in the 2020 election cycle, outspending eight of the top conservative donors ($19,710,327). Steyer, who led a $120-million campaign to impeach Trump during the 2018 election, will make his first appearance on stage during the Oct. 15, Democratic Party presidential...

Trying to out-socialist Democratic frontrunner Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders has a fresh new idea: Ending billionaires. Here's his genius tweet: Bernie Sanders ✔ @BernieSanders Billionaires should not exist. https://twitter.com/nytpolitics/status/1176459557473804297 … NYT Politics ✔ @nytpolitics Bernie Sanders is unveiling a proposal for a new wealth tax on the richest Americans, including a steep tax on billionaires that could greatly diminish their fortunes https://nyti.ms/2mm9QB9 44.3K 6:01 AM - Sep 24, 2019

Carl Icahn, the legendary investor, has told employees that he is moving his company from New York to Miami and a report said his decision to move is based on the Big Apple’s higher taxes. Icahn, 83, whose net worth is about $20.4 billion, is set to move his home and business from the city due to the taxes, sources told Bloomberg. The report said that it is not uncommon for billionaires to settle in the state which is one of seven without a personal income tax. The report pointed to New York’s 8.82 percent rate. …

Tom Steyer, the billionaire and former hedge fund investor turned impeachment activist, became the 11th Democratic presidential candidate to qualify for the October debates on Sunday after a new poll showed him with 2 percent support in Nevada. To make the cut, candidates must procure donations from 130,000 people and earn 2 percent support in four qualifying polls. Mr. Steyer fell one poll short of qualifying for the third Democratic debate in Houston this week. But the Democratic National Committee’s rules allow polls to carry over and count toward qualification for the fourth set of debates. With three qualifying polls...

A fugitive Chinese billionaire who has previously met with U.S. President Donald Trump's former senior counselor Steve Bannon said internal weakness in the Chinese Communist Party raises concerns about its long-term stability. Guo Wengui, who lives in New York and has pledged to expose political corruption in China, said he has privately met with Chinese Communist Party officials who voice doubts about the future, Taiwan's Liberty Times reported Monday. Guo, who made his fortune in Chinese real estate before fleeing the country, said one "senior member" is skeptical the annual Beidaihe summit will take place next year, citing political upheaval...

When libertarian billionaire David Koch passed away last week, the left couldn't -- and wouldn't -- hide its glee. Finally, an important funder of right-wing causes had died! Bill Maher even said that he was "glad" that Koch had passed away, adding he hoped "the end was painful." That's the kind of hate the left had and continues to have for Mr. Koch, a man who became extremely rich and who then proceeded to use that wealth to support causes he believed in. Although he was most famous for donating to political causes, Mr. Koch was extremely generous to other...

The pro-mass immigration Koch brothers, mega-donors to the GOP establishment, helped market endless free trade policies to Democrat politicians, a new book details. A report by the Intercept outlines a recently released book titled Kochland by Christopher Leonard where the author alleges that brothers Charles and David Koch funded a 2007 report by the left-wing Third Way organization to warn Democrat politicians against the populist, economic nationalist arguments made by Lou Dobbs at the time. Though aligned for the last few decades with Republican lawmakers, the Kochs were major supporters of the economic policies of the Obama administration which sought...

Among Mumbai’s glitziest society events over the past year were two weddings in the family of Mukesh Ambani, the Indian tycoon who in 2018 became Asia’s richest person. In December, his 27-year-old daughter Isha got married in a Bollywood-style extravaganza attended by global power brokers and titans of finance. Beyonce sang at the festivities, Hillary Clinton flew in and KKR & Co.’s Henry Kravis made an appearance. In March, her twin brother Akash wed in a ceremony attended by the likes of Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai. The lavish events put Ambani’s eldest children in a very public spotlight...

Leslie Wexner, in letter to foundation, said the amount was at least $46 million Leslie Wexner, the billionaire behind Victoria’s Secret, said his former money manager Jeffrey Epstein misappropriated more than $46 million of his fortune, revealing for the first time some of the financial fallout from his relationship with the disgraced financier. In a letter Wednesday, the founder and chief executive of L Brands Inc. LB -0.63% wrote to members of his Wexner Foundation that the missing funds were uncovered after Mr. Wexner decided in 2007 to sever ties with Mr. Epstein. Mr. Wexner began the separation process after...

Full Headline: "Victoria's Secret billionaire Leslie Wexner accuses Epstein of misappropriating 'vast sums of money' from him" Billionaire Leslie Wexner on Wednesday accused his former money manager Jeffrey Epstein of misappropriating millions of his fortune. The Wall Street Journal reported that Wexner, the billionaire behind Victoria's Secret, issued a statement to members of the Wexner Foundation, alleging that more than $46 million of his family's fortune was uncovered after the L Brands CEO decided to cut ties with Epstein in 2007. The Journal reported that Wexner began severing ties with Epstein after allegations emerged involving Epstein's sexual abuse of underage...

“I woke up this morning thinking it was going to be another great day. I've been celebrating with friends, family and the community since I turned 90. I've told you about the gracious gift of $117 million that was collected and given in my honor to four charities that mean a lot to me. All that happiness blew up because I said in a newspaper interview that I have supported and will continue to support Donald Trump. Boom! Negative stories... vicious threats, without cause, to boycott the company that has enabled my foundation to give billions to support autism, medical...